Time to get up, clean up and tune up!

Ah, the smell of flying season, mmm... kinda musty.

Its time to start making things happen for the 2021 flying season. Renewed my AMA a couple months ago, but for no real reason didn't renew my club membership until today.  Been thinking about getting around to it for a couple of weeks as the weather warmed and the winds settled down. Getting my club application in today, made me a little itchy to shake off the COVID and winter blues, get downstairs and instead of just walking by, start cleaning and organizing the workshop, see what batteries I killed leaving them charged, and which engines are going to give me crap, see if I can get over being annoyed at how little it took to put serious hurt on the Waco I still haven't gotten around to wanting to fix.

At the top of the stairs to the basement. If I am running engines out back through the basement bulkhead I cat free the basement and then make sure no one listens to them crying to be let in.

Ah, the doorway to heaven. Or hell. Depends on my mood and how many parts my returning aircraft come down in. Painted the pole as people kept running into it.

I didn't even bother to put anything away last fall.... its a mess.

Here is my conundrum to start the season. My beloved UNFLOWN Hangar 9 Ultrastick 10cc that I have waited years to get and fly, is two pounds over her designed dry flying weight.  I put the servos for the rudder and elevator aft as the equipment bay, as you can see here, is packed. This puts a bit of weigh aft out on a long lever. I had to put that 1 lb (500gm) lead weight there to get her on CG. Literal dead weight. Between that and the oversized receiver/ignition pack, she comes in at 9 lbs dry, her design weight is 7 lbs. I could save maybe a quarter pound (250gm) or so if I changed to a smaller LiPO. I am not sure it would save even that much, forget how much it weighs. Half that 5200 mAh is more than adequate, and I could always go with to swappable smaller LiPOs. I am pretty sure I am going to do that. 5200 mAh is far more than a days flying would need. I could move the aft servos to the bay and remove the lead, but thats going to take a lot more work than it might be worth. I am going to add a capacitor, which I am not optimistic will solve the weird left aileron twitch. (These are the same servos but not in the same place, and I think a different receiver, so no idea why the same servo twitches. I also have a Tech Aero IBEC that may help. More on this problem here.  I have changed the servos before, and I have replacement ones on hand. I think I will step through it. Capacitor, IBEC, servos).

The tail servos aft.

I could squeeze those aft servos here, but still aft of CG, albeit not so far out on the lever.

I really don't want to go there... That block and spar support the satellite receiver.

The Waco spent all winter sitting there after I hurt her. I just don't want to find out what its going to take to fix her, but I do love this plane, so it won't be long.

And then there is the Spitfire and my long history with them... she has yet to be maidened and won't be until I get some fresh hours under my thumbs.

I am off tomorrow afternoon.  

I am feeling the call.

It is time.